Hello, this is Pastrinator64 with another chapter from Hourglass! I've been WAY more motivated to keep writing recently thanks to all my new free time. If there are any of you out there who are, for some reason, NOT on summer vacation...feels all around, guys. Feels all around.
Anyhow, let's get on with it!
Replies to Reviews
spark n' jetz: Thanks, dude. :D
Nwinds: 1. Good Lord, I hate procrastination.
2. You just wait until you see what interesting things happen to Mason later on.
3. It was nearby, otherwise I would have put right in the text, "and he returned to the room where they'd found Morgan."
4. Oops, sorry! I don't know how I missed that. It's answered right at the end in QAA.
5. (Answered in QAA)
6. It's only going to get more interesting from here, trust me.
7. Same to you! The summer gives me lot of time to devote my talents to the story, just like last summer. I remember last summer, alright. The summer of The Glitch. That was the best summer to start on Fanfiction.
8. Thanks! Say, have you ever considered getting a Fanfiction account and writing a story yourself?
MikeStruble: Well, at the end of my school year last year, I was having some difficulty with my old series because I couldn't spread it across the world. I couldn't find an opportunity to share my works with the world. Then, my brother showed Fanfiction to me, explained it all, and I thought it was pretty neat. So, off the top of my head, I decided to write a Minecraft fanfic because of my love for the game. From there, my success surprised me greatly, so I became more and more motivated. As for the storyline, I just made it off the top of my head.
Getting that out of the way, I've got quite the chapter here. Some interesting plotlines are being drawn. Some secrets spilled...intriguing stuff.
Now, let the story commence!
Chapter 7: Morgan's What?
It was the following morning of Auconi's discovery down in the tunnels. He was still nursing his burnt finger; all the food and potions in the Overworld couldn't help him. As he sat there at one end of the long kitchen table, staring at his stubborn wound, he heard Darcy's footsteps coming down the staircase behind him.
"Morning." he grumbled, not moving his gaze. "You're up early."
There came no reply. Auconi paused for a moment, confused at the silence.
"You're up early." he repeated.
Still, Darcy kept silent. Auconi sighed and turned his shoulders to look back at Darcy.
"What's up with you this morning?"
It wasn't Darcy that stood on the second staircase in the room, but rather Morgan. Finally, she'd come up from her slumber, rising early like she usually did. Now, a dark green crop top covered most of her torso, though it still showed her pierced belly button. She wore a white skirt, complimenting her legs nicely and pairing well with the peep toe boots. In simpler words, she made Auconi's hormones betray him.
Dead silence.
And then...
"Hi," she said quietly.
Auconi's face went red as a beet and he covered his mouth, stifling a moan. Morgan blushed along with him, staring down at her toes as she continued down the stairs. As she was walking towards him, Auconi's mind raced for a solution to keeping calm. Chicks were his kryptonite.
She paused about three blocks from him and looked up slightly, glancing over to her right at the many chests labeled: Fruits, Veggies, Meats, etc. She gestured to one awkwardly and muttered,
"So, can I, like, get something?"
Auconi nodded silently, giving his burnt finger more of a nervous stare than a frustrated one. As soon as he heard her stepping towards the chests, he lifted his gaze to her and watched her while her back was turned. He hadn't seen a more beautiful girl in his life. Heck, he'd never had a chance with a girl in his life. Darcy was lucky to be himself; he didn't have any problems at all with women and excelled at picking them up at the lift of his finger.
A few seconds later, Morgan turned back around; Auconi's head jerked down at the table to keep from eye contact. He heard her sit down in one of the homemade chairs, then all was silent.
"C'mon, Auconi, it's just a girl. Act like it's your mom, or something."
Mustering up all his courage, Auconi slowly lifted his head to look at her. All of a sudden, an image of her mom's head popped in front of Morgan's; she turned towards him a moment after, bread in her mouth, and he watched as his "mom" showcased her gigantic nose.
"What?" she asked.
Auconi thought that the sight of his mom's face in place of Morgan's was absolutely hilarious and burst out laughing, falling backwards off his chair, unable to stop himself.
"Hahahahaha! Ahahahahahaha! Good Lord, no! Heheheheheh!"
Morgan stared at him, both confused, mildly concerned, and also a bit offended. What was he laughing at?!
"I'm sorry that I didn't get a chance to put on makeup, alright?" she said, embarrassed.
Auconi couldn't hear her; he was laughing too hard. He didn't even understand why he couldn't stop.
"Why is this so freaking funny?!" he thought, trying to calm himself down.
Amidst the noise echoing throughout the room, Darcy came down the stairs, eyebrows raised at all the commotion.
"Auconi! You look like you're gonna cark it from laughing like a wild ass!"
Auconi promptly quieted down at the sound of Darcy's voice. When he got a hold of himself, he noticed he was on his knees. Morgan looked uncomfortable, sitting there in her seat awkwardly with her eyes remaining on her bread to avoid even glancing at him. Darcy, on the other hand, was looking extremely amused at the situation Auconi had put himself in.
"You done?" added Darcy, showing off his lit grin.
Auconi stood up in an instant and then returned to his seat, his face even redder than before. God, why did he do that?! He looked like a total jerkhead just because he couldn't contain himself and Darcy was enjoying every bit of his pain. Why did he become partners with this guy in the first place, goddangit? Darcy came down the stairs and joined the two of them at the table. He was about to sit down next to Morgan, but before he did so, he bent over and whispered in Auconi's ear,
"So, I see you've come a gutser here, huh? Just be careful not to crack a fat in front of her, alright, Hugh Jackman?"
Auconi gritted his teeth at Darcy as he strolled on up to Morgan and sat down next to her, grinning straight at her. Morgan's gaze raised to his, her face still red, though she muttered,
"So, you're from...?"
"The Lucky Country!" replied Darcy, surprised she didn't take the obvious hints.
"Yup, he's...what do you always say, Darcy? "True blue," or something?" grumbled Auconi, not looking at either of them.
Darcy checked Morgan out swiftly and all ninja-like to keep it unnoticed, then made a comment.
"I see it all fits, then? It makes you look the prettiest Aussie girl I ever saw."
"I'm American," she replied, raising an eyebrow at his strong accent.
He waved a hand and said,
"Ah, it's just an expression, Morgan. Anyway, I'd just like to know how you came to be all stonkered down in that bloody cave, nearly in the nuddy and everything."
Morgan paused, unsure of how to reply to that. What was he saying? When Auconi noticed that she had no idea what he was saying, he translated for her.
"He asked how you got down in that cave in such a tough spot in the first place." he said impatiently, still embarrassed about his behavior.
Once again, Morgan paused, only this time, it was involuntary.
"Miss, surely not?"
"On the contrary, Zombulk!"
"But if you create it to be...this, you will not be able to undo it."
"Yes, but I assure you that this creation will not turn against me as long as I am its administrator. Only I can use the commands."
"Don't you think it's possible that another may somehow override you?"
"No one can override me, Zombulk. No one except my twin sister, I suppose, but she is no longer aware of my whereabouts; I have been able to sever our spiritual connection for now so that I may work on my project. I will have enough time for perfection before needing to restore it. Are you aware of what would happen if I were to keep our souls bound?"
"She would be alerted of this evil, yes."
"...Zombulk, you seem, how you say, different. For one, your voice has lowered considerably. Also, you don't appear to be as devoted nor as excited about my devilish endeavors. Even your vocabulary has become more advanced recently."
"I've done some reading."
"Reading? I didn't know you could."
"..."
"Zombulk, I do not want to rewire you to be more faithful towards me. As my right-hand zombie, my most loyal servant, and my personal friend, you must understand the situation and allow me to take some creative liberties."
"I'm not quite so sure that these "creative liberties" are for the better, miss."
"Perhaps it is true that I must remind you of your place here, Zombulk. Your real place."
"No, miss. I know what has to be done to save our kind."
"Good. I was hoping you would concur."
"..."
"..."
"...just being curious, but will it be male or female, miss? Young or old?"
"I'll make her a fresh, new female, of course. This blasted world doesn't have enough young girls to stand up for the rest of their population. Granted, she'll be a monster underneath, but no one will know the difference as long as I create a new skin for her."
"When do you plan on making the final touches on...her?"
"I think I'll do it right now, as long as we're on the topic. I've been waiting for an excuse to add this last tricky bit of code. I'm glad she's sedated, or she'd be in a world of hurt for this process."
Step.
Step.
Step.
Pause.
Silence.
"Iktharun mamike ga!"
PAIN!
THROB!
TORTURE!
ANGUISH!
SLEEP...
"What is going on here?! There should be no interference!"
"Miss, I tried to warn you! Your sister has restored the connection! You have waited too long and her suspicions grew to the point of her probing the situation!"
"Zombulk, do not speak to me in such a tone! Don't make me regret raising you up from the dead a third time! You don't want to be re-killed again, do you?"
"No, miss! But look! She's rising without your command! Your sister must be controlling her, but how? Her range of powers has shrunk over these many years, has it not?"
"I don't know, Zombulk! Keep her from getting up, though! If this creation does escape, then we're all doomed! I need to override my sister quickly, or she'll /tp the girl far, far away from us, never to be seen."
Step.
Step.
Pressure.
Pain.
Struggle!
STRUGGLE!
PAIN!
"Good. Now I can fix any more bugs in her code made by my sister and override as the main control. It should only take five minutes, give or take. Once I am finished, though, bring her out into the woods and I will wake her up by command. Lalita will take care of the rest. This one will have to learn to fear."
"This one? Aren't you going to give her a name? And a power, perhaps?"
"Yes, if she's going to have to later blend into Minecraftian society, I'll have to give her a block power and a name. Suspicions are our greatest concern, so it would be best to eliminate them. Therefore, I think we'll call her Morgan. Morgan Ironbars."
Sleep...
Morgan opened her eyes suddenly, breathing shallowly. She looked up to see both Darcy and Auconi staring down at her in concern and surprise.
"Hm! She looks as full as I am when I have one too many pints."
Auconi momentarily glared at him for not taking this seriously. Morgan just fainted right in their kitchen and hit her head on the corner of the table, yet Darcy was cracking jokes. Morgan sat up and cringed, holding her head carefully. There was a noticeable bump on the back of her head.
"Ow...what the hell?"
"You just sort of fainted." said Auconi simply. "We just asked you about how you got down into that cave and you froze in your seat and...fainted."
Morgan's flashback had reminded her of what horrible fate she'd been subjected to. Now that she thought about it harder, she understood how she'd ended up in that forest being chased by that creepy plant thing. Thinking upon this realization, she stood up suddenly, shaking a little, and said,
"Can I just get some fresh air?"
She made her way towards the door and right on out to the floating walkway, heading towards land. As she was walking out, both Darcy and Auconi followed, standing near the doorway and staring out at her.
"You think we should stop her?" suggested Auconi, looking over at Darcy.
"Nah, mate. The air in here is kinda bodgy, anyway."
"Well, as long as she comes back, then I'm not worried." he murmured, returning his eyes to Morgan.
"Bloody oath!" said Darcy as he was walking back towards the kitchen to get some breakfast. "We got any dog's eyes?"
"Spider eyes, yes," muttered Auconi, rolling his eyes, "dog's eyes, no."
"Meat pies, you fruit loop."
"May Heaven forbid!" shouted Mason as he sped down the red landscape.
The Blaze behind him was pitiless, blasting a furious tornado of fireballs directly at him. His back was singed by the flames and he felt a terrible pain from both the running and the creature's artillery. He only hoped his loincloth wouldn't catch fire.
With only survival on his mind, Mason was unaware of the patch of mushrooms that he'd run into. His big toe snagged on a mushroom stalk, sending him toppling over into the patch of beige.
The Blaze hovered over him, its many yellow limbs glowing with wrath. It opened its mouth once more, showing off another nasty fireball—its last. Mason had absolutely no chance of escaping now; he was doomed to die here because of his sins.
The fireball was launched, blasting Mason in the face and blinding him in its unbearable heat. He caught fire, screaming in agony as he lay in the mushrooms, contorted from the horrible pain. The mushrooms shriveled beneath him as the flames grew in intensity...
Suddenly, his eyes shot open even while covered in flame and he looked down at what he was lying on. The mushroom bed; it was burning up in the fire. Mushroom after mushroom perished, turning black and ugly...tasteless! A new anger alit inside of Mason at the sight.
"You...Hellspawn..."
He sat up, still on fire, but somehow able to bare the torture as he gave his foe a death stare. The Blaze's beady eyes still glowed, though it backed up in confusion. Its prey had just risen from the flames? That was unusual.
For a suspenseful minute, both the Blaze and Mason exchanged glares. After that minute, the flames around Mason extinguished, leaving him smoking where he lay on the ground. His muscles ached, his skin stung, and his heart was held in a death grip, but...
Nevertheless, the rage building inside him fueled him; he sat up with newfound strength, lifting a foot and rising to his knee. He continued to stare at the Blaze even as he brought a hand down to the mushroom patch and picked one. He lifted the blackened mushroom in his hand. Without removing his gaze, he put it to his mouth and bit from it. It crumbled to dust inside his mouth and he spat.
"Bitterness...what kind of sick, twisted, creature would...would let a beautiful mushroom patch go to waste in the flames? Why...would anyone...let them perish...become obsolete...without flavor?! You disgust me, abomination!"
The Blaze continued to fly backwards, sensing the anger emanating from Mason. He rose even further—to his feet, in fact. He stood there in defiance with his body's pleas for rest. The Blaze, now sensing danger, began to fly away. Mason pursued, sprinting towards the creature of fire with amazing speed.
The poor Blaze hadn't gotten ten blocks away before it found itself wrapped in Mason's unforgiving hands. The golden rods pelted him in retaliation, but Mason's grip found the monster's head despite this. With all his might, he lifted the Blaze into the air, swung around and chucked it discus-style, sending it flying over the ledge.
Mason stood there, panting angrily and staring at the empty ledge that the Blaze had fallen over, just daring it to be alive.
"Good riddance, you filth!"
Almost instantly, the Blaze rose up into the air and hovered there, glaring at him viciously; all of Mason's confidence was suddenly erased when he realized something.
"Oh...yes...they can fly, of course! How stupid of me."
Without another word, Mason turned on his heel and bolted, the Blaze following in hot pursuit. Again. Pun intended.
Mason had no more energy left to run now that he'd gone all super-Mason on the Blaze earlier. This time, his loincloth actually did catch fire; in response, he yelped an unmanly little yelp and wished he would just fall off a ledge and have a nice quick death instead of a long, painful, area-specific one.
Just out of the blue, or red since he's in the Nether, a random Nether portal appeared in front of him and he tripped over its obsidian base, toppling through. He disappeared inside the purple vortex, leaving the Blaze in a heated rage. How did he get away?!
Not even a second later, Mason came tumbling through the other end and rammed into some woman. In all the confusion, they both screamed, twisted awkwardly and fell to the floor, her fall cushioned by Mason's girth alone. They stared at each other for a moment, both deeply baffled. Suddenly, Mason whipped on a smile and said,
"Hello, fine lady!"
The woman got up off of him and held out a hand, barely managing to lift clumsy ol' Mason to his feet.
"Wow! I'm so sorry, I didn't know—"
"And neither did I, miss! No need to apologize."
The woman straightened up in front of him and looked him up and down, her nose curling involuntarily at the stench of unwashed person. She tried to be polite as possible while ignoring the smell, so she walked up to him and took him by the shoulder, leading him towards the door.
"You look like you've gone through quite an ordeal in the Nether, huh?"
Mason was a bit preoccupied by the woman's appearance. She was a very pretty lady with a long ponytail of blonde hair. She was a little above average height and looked like a very healthily-built individual. Her face held genuine kindness, which he thought was a nice attribute in women—hard to find, it seemed, nowadays. Finally, though, he realized she was asking him a question and cleared his throat awkwardly.
"Er, yes! After being thrown inside that wretched dimension, I was chased by a Ghast, set on fire by a Blaze, and ate from a deplorable patch of mushrooms."
"And your name?" she added.
Mason stopped walking with her so that he could reach out and shake her hand.
"My name is Mason Mushroom, madam. You are...?"
All of a sudden, the woman froze in shock. It took her a few seconds to recover, but when she did, she scanned Mason's wilderness-worn face closely.
"Mason? You mean...Mayor Mushroom? Is that seriously you?!"
Mason grinned in pride and then, as he examined her closer, he recognized those bright green eyes. His eyebrows raised instantly and he replied,
"Ah! Bailey Creeper, that's right! You're so much older since I last saw you! You were a lively young lady, I remember."
Bailey Creeper stared back at him, utterly confused on how this was possible. Didn't he die twenty years ago? When she repeated this burning question to him, he chuckled and said,
"Tell you what. If I could just freshen up first, I will explain everything in a little while. Also, I would like some vittles, if possible. No mushrooms, though; as much as I hate to say it, I realized while in the Nether that they've done something wrong to this wonderful brain of mine."
She agreed to his request and sent him down the hall towards a bathroom. "Freshen up" was an understatement. Then again, she was curious on how the ex-mayor was still standing after drowning in liquid gold twenty years prior.
Another part of her wondered where Norman and Liz were. She hadn't seen them since they'd visited her old mountain village. Then again, they'd met for less than a half hour before that ridiculously overkill spider army attacked and destroyed her home. Could it be possible that they were already dead?
Little did she know, our heroes were preparing for their most important quest yet. At the moment, Farixz was sending each of them into the Clock Chamber. He had to kick the Mastermind out of it because the magic jester had been in there for so long. A couple years, actually. It didn't matter, really, because the Mastermind didn't age like everyone else did.
"The point of sending you each into the Clock Chamber is so that you each have an hour to prepare for the upcoming journey. Any catching up on Minecraft knowledge and skills you need to do, do it in here, because I'll be sending you out very soon. Don't worry about rushing it, though; outside of the Clock Chamber, we'll see you go in, shut the door, and come out a millisecond later. We have plenty of time, in theory." explained Farixz.
Farixz whirled around to face the group and gestured towards the plain white door to the Clock Chamber.
"Youngest to oldest shall be the order: Liz, Astrid, Kelsey, Norman, and finally Adrian."
Vanessa piped up from the side and raised her hand.
"Farixz? What am I going to do, then?"
Farixz turned and looked directly at her, making her go a little red.
"You, my dear, are going somewhere else. Remember, your mission is different and therefore requires different training. I'll be sending you to an alternate destination with the Mastermind for special training."
Vanessa closed her eyes and let out an aggravated breath. Special training? Sounded fun. To her surprise, the Mastermind appeared in front of her in a poof of black and white clouds.
"Looks like we're going to spend some quality time together, darling!" he whispered loudly, then threw his head back and laughed gleefully.
Vanessa groaned quietly, rubbing her eyes. For once, she wished she'd never gotten magic powers at all.
Aha! Now Bailey's getting in on the action, huh? If you're curious about what's going on back in the Palace of 0, just hold onto your horses, because we'll be getting right back into the main plot in the next chapter.
Now for some QAA!
To Phil: Do YOU like being back?!
Phil: You've got to be kidding. Being back here means fixing more walls and more problems that COULD be avoided if everybody just followed the dimensional rules!
To Norman: What reference? I wasn't making one.
Norman: I never said you were making a reference. I just made that one from Monty Python and the Holy Grail to be funny. Haven't you seen that movie? You live in the 2010's, so you're hardly a generation away from it. I figured you would've at least heard of it.
To the Glitch: Even YOU can be beaten by MAH BELLEH! *belly flop* *squashes the Glitch with my gigantic BELLEH*
The Glitch: *takes a plasma straw and sucks all the fat out of you* Your unnaturally-sized girth tastes like lard! Disgusting! Too bad, though, for I could really go for a snack. Perhaps I'll stop on by the Cookie Clicker Dimension and eat all their cookies! No, not the chocolate-chip-filled ones, I'm referring to the coded ones. MWAHAHAHAHAPUNSHAHAHAHA!
I think I'm finally getting back into the groove of writing! :D Now all I have to do is make sure that I don't get sidetracked by other sides of the story. Before I sign off, it's time for another look into Sugar Lords!
Pastrinator64 flew up in front of the monster with his arms spread wide.
"I COMMAND YOU TO STOP, FOUL BEAST!"
FWOOSH! The thing blew right past him, knocking him down out of the air. Pastrinator64 free-fell for a few seconds before gaining his stance; immediately, he blasted off at the speed of...something really fast that I don't want to name because it might be inaccurate.
He stopped again in front of the flying fortress of a monster and unearthed the Powertart from his pocket, grasping it tightly and absorbing its power. He cried out with adrenaline, transforming into Super Pasty once again. As the creature was coming towards him, he stuck out his tongue and put a finger on the tip, saying aloud,
"Fuyōna Tō!"
Suddenly, the monster stopped and its head wrenched backward. It screeched horribly, its sickening tongue lolling out and waving in disgust.
"That oughta taste pretty bad..." muttered Pastrinator64, grinning at his bitter technique.
With the distraction of the nasty flavor spreading across its tongue, Pastrinator64 rocketed forward, right into the monster's mouth without it noticing. Ignoring the awful stench that clouded inside the creature's maw, he flew right on up to the thing's surprisingly bristly uvula and pulled his fist back, getting ready to make this thing cough up everything it ate the in the last hour.
"Sorry I have to do this, alien thing, but once you've taken my friends, you'll have to deal with me, too!"
His fist shot forward and slammed with intense force into the giant uvula, sending it flying all over the place, banging into the walls of the throat. Instantly, he heard a sickening gurgle beneath him, coming from the bottom of the tunnel-like esophagus. This thing was gonna blow! He couldn't possibly get out of the thing in time, but there was one thing he could do:
"Niji no Kasoku!"
This was the hardest technique Master Mapley had ever shown him. While inside of the beast, Pastrinator64 transformed into, you guessed it, a rainbow. Yep! A rain-freakin-bow.
The red alien, even with its unstoppable stature and intimidating looks, was turned against by its own volatile stomach fluids. In a split second, the thing exploded with dangerous force, sending all of Pastrinator64's companions flying.
Where were Pixelized and Pikale, though?
Had Pastrinator64 failed to realize that they'd suffer from the blast?
Well, that's all for now! I hope you enjoyed chapter number seven, and I'll see you all LATER!
This is Pastrinator64, your fellow writer and reader, signing out!
*throws sugar bomb and disappears behind its cloud of fine white sugar*
...Goodbye for now...
~Pastrinator64 [~]